Poverty and Inequality

Homeless action plan given £100m government boost

13.08.18: As many as 6,000 rough sleepers will receive specialist support in a new government scheme announced today. Supported by £100m in funding, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) will put the cash towards W...

Calls for reform of local and central government’s ‘challenging’ debt collection

04.07.18: A shocking new report from Christians Against Poverty (CAP) has revealed that 41% of those helped by the CAP who had owed money to the central of local government were “more likely to have considered suicide as a way out of debt.” ...

Bristol council accused of breaking its own pay pledge rules

28.06.18: Bristol City Council has been accused of breaking its own rules after spending £2m on senior interim staff. The council abides by a 10:1 voluntary pay pledge, which says that those on the highest salaries should not earn more than&nbs...

Half of children’s budget spent on 73,000 children in care

12.06.18: Almost three quarters of children’s services budgets are spent on those in severe need, a report published today has revealed. According to the research carried out by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) for the Children’s Commis...

£30m for rough sleepers as charity claims homelessness can be ‘thing of the past’ in 10 years

11.06.18: The communities secretary James Brokenshire has pledged £30m in funding to boost immediate support for rough sleepers to help them into accommodation. A total of 83 areas will share the much-needed cash boost from Brokenshir...

Manchester given green light for council-owned company to support care leavers

06.06.18: Care leavers in Manchester will be given support and guidance under a new scheme approved by the council. A new company, wholly owned and operated by Manchester City Council, will be established to support care leavers. The city will be the fir...

Local authority’s enhanced powers ‘ripe for misuse’ for convicting hundreds of homeless, new figures show

21.05.18: People sleeping rough on Britain’s streets have been fined, given criminal records, or even imprisoned due to enhanced council powers to reduce homelessness. New figures obtained in a Freedom of Information request by the Guardian hav...

Norfolk tables council tax exemption for care leavers

16.05.18: Care leavers in Norfolk could soon be exempt from paying council tax. In a proposal to be discussed by councillors next week, Norfolk County Council’s children’s services committee will hear about the financial challenges faced by c...

Three ‘internationally-proven’ Housing First pilots set to kick off

11.05.18: Three areas in England will be given financial backing to pilot projects aimed at getting rough sleepers off the streets, the housing and communities secretary has confirmed. As previously revealed by PSE, the projects in the West Midlands, Liverp...

Home Office unable to monitor progress of modern slavery clampdown, PAC says

03.05.18: The Home Office has “no means of monitoring progress” of its anti-modern slavery crackdown or if it is achieving value for money, a chilling new report has found. The review, ordered by the Commons and released yesterday, claime...

Councils turn away thousands of homeless youth due to lack of funding

03.05.18: A leading charity has today revealed that the majority of young homeless (or at risk of homelessness) people who reached out to local government were not met with “positive actions”, leading to their homelessness not “being suc...

‘Hidden homeless’ must be recognised in government figures, says charity

25.04.18: The number of people living in unsupported temporary accommodation (UTA) is almost ten times higher than official figures, research has shown. Research carried out by Justlife, ‘Lifting the lid on hidden homelessness: A new analysis,&rsqu...

Homeless families in unstable housing could top 100,000 by 2020

12.04.18: Councils are being forced to place more people in unstable temporary accommodation as they struggle to find proper housing for homeless people in their area, according an annual report. Since 2010 the estimated number of rough sleepers in Engla...

Struggling families set to be hit hardest by highest benefit cuts in five years

13.03.18: Families that are “just about managing” will be hit by the biggest year of benefit cuts since 2012, the Resolution Foundation has warned. Research by the foundation found that benefit changes set to save around £2.5bn will &ld...

London council becomes first to appoint ‘women and girls champion’

09.03.18: Islington Council is to become the first council in the UK to appoint a ‘women and girls champion.’ The council, with Plan International UK, has announced a commitment to create the new role today at its ‘International Women&...